Garment



May 2.7, 1941.

L. J. MACLEAR GARMENT Filed` Deo. 27, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEYS May 27, 1941.

L. J. MACLEAR GARMENT Filed Dec. 27, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 f xfrTORNEYs May 27, 1941. J, MACLEAR- 2,243,531

GARMENT Filed Deo. 27, 1938 :5 sheets-sheet s ATTOR NEY5 Patented May 27, 1941 GARMENT Lucie J. Maclear, New York, N. Y., assigner to Van Raalte Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December 27, 1938, Serial No. 247,855

l (o1. z-vs) 3 Claims.

My invention relates to a new and improved garment.

One of the objects of lthe invention is to provide a garment having a crotch-.portion which is invisible or substantially invisible when the garment is Worn, the crotch-portion being then enclosed either wholly or substantially by the skirt portion of the garment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a garment of this type which can be manufactured conveniently and at low cost and which will have the proper fit and hang.

Another object is to provide a tted crotch portion in a garment which is free from a centre seam, front and back.

Another object is to provide a garment of the skirt type with a, trouser-leg member.

Other objects of my invention will be set forth in the following description and drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments thereof, it being understood that the above statement of the objects of. my invention is intended generally to explain same without limiting it in any manner.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the improved garment.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line LI-- of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. l.

Fig. 7 is a sectional View on the line '1 -'l of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing the crotchforming parts, detached from the remainder of the garment.

Fig. 9 is a plan view showing the various pieces which are used in forming the crotch-.portion of the garment.

Fig. 10 is another perspective view showing the assembled crotch-forming pieces.

Figs. l1 and 12 are plan views showing the pieces or elements which are used for making modied crotch-forming portion of the garment.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view showing the assembly of the elements which are illustrated in Figs. 11 and 12.

The invention has been illustrated in connection with a garment which extends above the waistline and which may be more or less of conventional construction above the waistline.

However the invention applies equallyV to a able fabric or fabrics, has a front panel I and a rear panel 2. An element, which consists of two layers of cloth 3 and 4, is sewed at the frontV of the garment to the front panel I, by means of lthe edge stitches la.

Additional fabric members 5 and 6 are sewed to the fabric pieces 3 and 4 at the front of the garment, along the lines of edge stitches Ib and lc. Additional fabric pieces 'I and 8 are sewed to the fabricV pieces 5 and 6 at the front of the garment along the lines of edge stitches 'la and 1b.

This provides the garment with a brassiere or bust-supporting portion above the waistline.

Conventional adjustable shoulder straps 20 and 2I are sewed to the top of the rear panel 2 and they are also connected to the tops of the fabric pieces 'I and 8 by means of reinforcing tabs 23 and 22.

The garment is provided with the usual side seams, one of said seamsl having an -open portion 9, which can be closed by means of ordinary detachable fasteners, such as hooks I2 and eyes I3. The various parts above described extend to the side seams.

The garment is also provided with crotch-forming elements, so as to provide leg-openings H4 and II4a.

Fig. 9 shows the four fabric strips or pieces I5, I6, II and I8 which are used for making the crotch-portion of the garment. The pieces I5 and I6 are identical in all respects, and the pieces Il and I8 are identical with each other.

The piece I6 has straight edges 5I), 5I and Illa. The edges 55 and 5I are perpendicular to the edge Ilia.V The piecel I6 also has a curved re-entrant edge 52 of circular shape.

Blunt edges 53 and 54 are provided at the junctions between the edge 52 and the edges 5I) and 5l. The piece I5 has edges 50a., Ela, and

52a, which respectively -correspond to the edges 50, 5I, and 52.

The piece I'I has curved edges 55 and 55 which terminate in a point. The edges 55 and 55 are of equal curvature, and said curvature is equal to the curvature of the edge 52. The piece I'I has a third curved re-entrant edge 5'I which is of substantially uniform curvature. The piece I8 has edges 55a, 56a and 51a, which correspond respectively to the edges 55, 56 and 51.

In assembling these four pieces, the edge 55 is sewed to the adjacent portion of the edge 52.

edges 55 and 56 of piece I1 are respectively` connected to the pieces I and I6, by means of stitches I1a which are shown in Fig. 8.

The edges 55a and 56a of the piece I8 are respectively connected to the pieces I5 and I6,

by means of stitches I8b. The portions 0f the edges 52 and 52a. which are not sewed to the pieces II and I8, are connected to each other by means of stitches I9a. In Fig. 10, the ends of edge 51 are designated by the reference letters A and B, and the ends of edge 51a are designated by reference letters E and F. Fig. also shows edge-stitches applied to edges 50, 56a, 5I, 5Ia, 51 and 51a. These edge stitches reinforce and ornament said edge. The material of pieces I5 and I6 may be doubled at the edges I4 and Illa, so as to provide smooth reinforced edges. This is indicated in Figs. 4 and 8. As this doubling is conventional, it is not described in detail.

In connecting the assembled parts which are shown in Fig. 10, to the panels I and 2, one short edge 56 of the piece I6 is connected in vertical relation to the inner surface of the front panel I of the garment by means of stitches I6a. The short edge 56a of the piece I5 is connected to the inner face of the front panel of the garment in similar vertical relation by additional stitches I5a.

The second short edge 5I of the piece I6 is sewed in vertical relation to the inner surface of therear panel 2 by stitches I6c. The second short edge Sla of piece I5 is sewed to the inner surface of rear panel 2 by stitches |50.

The lines of stitches 16a and I5a may be vertical and parallel to each other, or said lines of stitches may be inclined to each other so that the space between the bottom ends of said lines is greater than the space between their top ends. The same applies to stitches I6c and I5c. When the garment is laid flat, edges 50 and 5I coincide, and edges 5Ia and 50a. coincide.

The concave edge 51 of the piece I1 is sev/ed to the front panel I of the garment by means of stitches I8a. and the concave edge 51a of the piece I8 is sewed to the rear panel 2 of the garment by corresponding stitches I8c.

The elements I5 and I6 can be made of any material, knitted or Woven.A They can be made of woven fabric which is bias-cut so that said elements are stretchable and elastic in a direction parallel to the seam ISIa, with little or no stretch in a direction perpendicular to said seam. The elements I1 and I8 are also preferably made of bias-cut woven fabric so that they have little or no stretch in a direction parallel to the transverse seam Ia. Said elements I1 and I8 are stretchable and elastic in a direction perpendicular to seam I9a. The elements I5, I6, I1 and I8 are stretchable and elastic in a direction perpendicular to seams I1a and I8b. Said elements can also be made of knitted material so as to have saidcharacteristics.

While I do not wish to be limited to any particular material for making the crotch-forming elements, it is preferred that the elements I5 and I6 should be substantially stretchable and elastic in the direction of the seam I9a and that they should have little or no stretch in a direction perpendicular thereto and that the elements I1 and I8 should be substantially nonstretchable in the direction of the seam I9a and should be substantially stretchable and elastic in a direction perpendicular to said seam.

The stitches I9a should be of the type to permit the elements I5 and I6 tostitch freely in a direction parallel to said seam. The panels I and 2 are preferably made of bias-cut woven fabric or of knitted fabric so that they are stretchable and elastic in a vertical direction and also in a horizontal direction.

When the garment is worn, the crotch-portion is either Wholly invisible or it is only slightly visible.

Referring to Figs. 1l and 12, these show fabric pieces or fabric elements 21 and 21a which have notches 10 and 10a. These figures also show auxiliary pieces 25, 26, 25a and 26a. The four pieces 25, 25a, 25 and 26a are identical. The pieces 21 and 21a are also identical. The notches 10 of the piece 21 are opened, so that the edges of said notches coincide with the edges 25e and 25d of the piece 25, and said edges 25C and 25d are then sewed to the edges of the adjacent notch 10. The piece 26 is correspondingly assembled with the piece 21. The pieces 25a and 26a are correspondingly assembled with the piece 21a.

The two composite pieces which are thus formed are sewed to each other by stitches K and L which follow the edges of the notches 10 and 15a. This assembly is shown in Fig. 13. The assembled crotch-forming elements shown in Fig. 13 are provided with tabs 3i) which can be connected to hooks 29. The garment is provided with tabs similar to the tabs 3U so that the assembled elements shown in Fig. 13 can be connected to the garment in the manner previously described instead of using stitches.

The embodiment of Figs. ll'13 eliminates the seam I9a.

As shown in Fig. 11, the fabric pieces 21 and 21a have longitudinal edges of convex shape. When the elements 21 and 21a are assembled with the elements 25, 25a, 26 and 26a, said longitudinal edges retain their convex shape.

In the assembly of Fig. 13, the pieces 21 and 21a may be freely stretchable and resilient in a lateral direction, that is, in a direction perpendicular to said convex longitudinal edges. Said pieces 21 and 21a may have little or no stretch in a longitudinal direction. The pieces 25 and 25a may be stretchable and resilient in the transverse direction, and they may have little or noy stretch in a longitudinal direction which is generally parallel to the convex edges. However, the invention is not limited to these characteristics of said pieces 25, 25a, 21, and 21a.

In each of the embodiments, the length of the crotch piece of the assembled elements, taken in a direction parallel to the width of the garment, exceeds the Width of said crotch piece.

As shown in Fig. 1, the line of stitches or seam I9a is substantially vertical. Hence the crotch portion of the garment shown in Fig. 1 has two- Way stretch, since it is stretchable both vertically and horizontally. While the pieces I1 and I8 have little or no vertical stretch, the pieces I5 and p I6 have considerable vertical stretch and resilience. Likewise, While the pieces I5 and I6 have little or no stretch in a horizontal direction,

the portions of said pieces I and I5 which are adjacent the inclined lines of stitches Ha and I'Ib are freely stretchable and resilient in a direction perpendicular to said inclined stitches. When the device shown in Fig. 13 is detachably connected to a garment by means of .the tabs 30 and the hooks 29, said tabs will be arranged in substantially horizontal pairs, their positions being indicated by the points A and B in Fig. 1. The seams between the main pieces 2l and 21a, and the auxiliary smaller pieces will then correspond to the positions of the seams lla and Hb'. This crotch insert will have little or no vertical stretch, but it will have substantial horizontal stretch and resilience.

For convenience, the pieces I5, I5, 21 and 21a may be designated as the main pieces of the crotch, and the other pieces shown in Figs. 9, 11 and 12 may be designated as the auxiliary pieces.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the height of the insert l1 is about two-thirds the height of the front wall of the crotch member.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 13, the height of the insert 25, 25a. is a little less than twothirds the height of the front wall of the crotch member.

I claim:

1. A garment having a skirt portion consisting of a front panel and a rear panel, a strip cut from a flat piece and having two identical triangular notches at opposite ends, a symmetrical substantially triangular insert, the two symmetric edges of which being secured to the side edges of one of said notches, a second similar insert, the symmetric edges of which being secured to the side edges of the other notch, the Widths of said inserts being larger than the openings of said notches in at condition, whereby said strip is bent around a seamless line running from one notch to the other and the two inserts and the strip are assembled to form a closed smoothly curved crotch member, said crotch member being secured to the inside of said skirt portion in a position where the base edge of one .triangular insert is adjacent to the central part of said front panel, substantially parallel to the bottom of said panel and at a distance from said bottom,

the base edge of the other insert being adjacent to the central part of said rear panel, substantially parallel to the bottom of said panel and at a distance from said bottom, said crotch member extending downwardly from said base edges about as far as said bottoms, whereby said strip extends from said front panel to said rear panel, its right and left edges being curved to fit the curvature of the wearers legs.

2. A garment having a skirt portion consisting of a front panel and a rear panel, two identical strips made from material having different elasticity in two perpendicular directions, the -higher elasticity being in the longitudinal direction of said strips, said strips being connected to each other at the central part of a corresponding longitudinal edge of each strip, a symmetrical, substantially triangular insert madeI from material having dierent elasticity in twoperpendicular directions, the two symmetric edges of said insert being secured to two adjacent unconnected ends of said centrally connected strip edges, a second similar insert, the two symmetric edges of which being secured to the two other adjacent unconnected ends of said centrally connected strip edges,v whereby said two strips and two inserts are assembled to form a closed, smoothly curved, highly elastic crotch member, said crotch member being secured to the inside of said skirt portion in a position where the base edge of one triangular insert is adjacent to the central part of said front panel, substantially parallel to the bottom of said panel and at a distance from said bottom, the base edge of the other insert being adjacent to the central part of said rear panel,

. substantially parallel to the bottom of said panel and at a distance from said Ibottom, and the crotch member extending downwardly from said base edges about as far as said bottoms, whereby said strips extend from said front panel to said rear panel, the right and left edges of said strips being highly elastic and curved to t the curvature of the wearers legs.

3. A garment according to claim 2, the strips and inserts being made from bias-cut woven fabric.

LUCIE J. MACLEAR. 

